Beyond Galactic Marshal
by
Hilltopper

Chapter 14

I was sleeping soundly when a loud yell woke me up. A large man was standing just outside our camp. He seemed mad as hell. Janna was staring at him with her hands on her hips. I stood up and started to ask what was going on when the man suddenly raised a large gun. He yelled and fired. I felt something impact my lower body. Everything turned black.

“John, can you hear me?”

I was very numb but thought someone was talking to me. I opened my eyes and saw Janna looking down at me.

“What?”

“Lie still. That stupid crazy Bill shot you. I’ve put my pendant around you to help stabilize things.”

“You can’t! He might shoot you!”

She looked sad.

“No, he’s gone. You are in bad shape. I’ve contacted my ship and told the AI to pick us up. There is a medical unit on it.”

This stunned me.

“How did you do that?”

She ignored my question.

“I told the AI to pick up Rosco and Lilly if it sees them. I’m so sorry. It all happened so fast. He came out of no where. His hatred of Indians has driven him insane. When you stood up, he saw your Indian dress and just shot before I could react.”

This was all I needed. After everything I have been through to die in the mountains of Wyoming away from my loved ones hundreds of years in the past.

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Rosco and I walked up to the ship. Rosco looked faint.

“Lilly, this thing is incredible. It can really fly like a bird?”

I laughed.

“Better than that, no bird can go into outer space but this sure can.”

I went to the hatch. Normally the AI would announce itself but nothing happened.

“We would like to enter the ship.”

Still nothing. I turned to Rosco.

“I was afraid of this. The ship is powered down completely.”

“So what do we do?”

“I don’t know. Only one of the crew can activate the AI at this stage.”

Rosco looked at me warily.

“And if the crew is all dead?”

I sighed.

“In that case, so is the ship. I’m just a grunt. Nobody trusted me with ship codes. There is no way to get into the ship unless the AI let’s us.”

Rosco looked at my pendant.

“What about that thing?”

I shrugged.

“It sends out a signal but, if the AI is programmed to ignore it, we are sunk. I guess all we can do for now is camp near the hatch.”

We set up camp. Rosco went looking for supper but had no luck. It is probably because of the ship. We had some jerky and made do with that. I sat wondering about the crew. If they were still alive, they would have come back to the ship. The mission was supposed to be an easy scientific exploration. Apparently, the old caldera was huge and not something normally seen on a planet inhabited by intelligent beings. When it had blown, the result would have been catastrophic. The crew must have run into trouble with the Indians. If so, there is the possibility that they could be alive but being held prisoners. Of course, it has been a long time. With nothing now to do and an aching body, I hit the sack. Rosco had been quiet and moody all evening; not that I blamed him.

“Good night, Rosco. We’ll think of something tomorrow.”

“Yeah”

It was a hard nights sleeping. I dreamed of scary aliens, hostile Indians, and mad trappers. Just before dawn, I finally gave up and made a fire. I was sitting staring into it when Rosco woke up. He joined me in silence. The sun was up now but hidden by the canyon walls. This place obviously didn’t get much sunlight. Suddenly, I heard a noise from the ship. Turning toward it, to my amazement, the hatch was now open.

“Rosco, look!”

He turned.

“How did you open it?”

“I didn’t.”

I stood up and walked to the hatch. A voice bellowed out.

“Get in quickly. I have been recalled.”

What the hell did that mean?

“Rosco, untether the horses. We have got our ride out of here.”

He was standing with his mouth open.

“Hurry!”

He ran to the horses and then back. We entered the ship and the hatch closed.

“Please strap in. We are launching.”

I pushed Rosco into the command center and we got into the chairs. Rosco was obviously awe struck.

“This is unbelievable!”

A count down was showing on a screen; 5---4---3---2---1---. The ship lurched upward. Rosco’s eyes went wide.

“Holy shit!”

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“John, I’ve been in contact with the AI. Rosco and Lilly are aboard and the ship should be here in a few minutes.”

“OK”

I looked around.

“Where’s the dog?”

Janna got a strange look on her face.

“When Bill shot you, he strode into the camp for another go. The dog jumped him. Bill killed the dog but not before he had mortally wounded Bill. I’m real sorry.”

I nodded.

“Poor dog. I’m glad now I didn’t name him. He was a good companion during some tough times.”

I shook my head and some tears ran down my cheeks. A slight whooshing noise now reached my ears. I looked toward the sound. A small but amazing looking ship had passed over the mountains and was heading for us.

“That is one good looking ship; in more ways than one.”

“It is pretty ordinary but a welcome site none the less.”

I looked at her puzzled. Then it hit me.

“I forget how far in the future your culture is from mine.”

“Oh yeah, you’re not from my time are you?”

“Nope”

The ship settled down in a clearing about 50 meters away. After a few minutes, two people exited and ran toward us. They were Rosco and Lilly.

“Oh John, what happened?”

“Some crazy trapper shot me.”

Rosco looked startled.

“Shit! Crazy Bill! Where is he now?”

“Dead”

Rosco nodded sadly.

“I guess it was bound to happen but he befriended me.

Rosco then spotted Janna.

“Janna! I thought you was dead.”

“I almost was. It’s good to see you Rosco.”

She glanced at Lilly.

“I don’t know you.”

“I came through after you left.”

“Hmm, we need to get John into the medical unit. Tell the AI. It will show you a transporter.”

Lilly ran back to the ship and returned followed by a strange looking cart. I was loaded onto it and quickly transported to the ship. Once inside, Janna took off the pendant and I was placed into a medical pod of some kind. It completely enclosed me but was not dark. Before I could panic, I drifted off.

When I awoke, I was lying on a bed. It seemed like no time had passed but I knew that wasn’t true. I felt fine but a little strange. Remembering where I had been shot, I looked down there.

“Uh oh!”

Yep, here we go again. How did I end up female again. Just then, everyone walked in. Lilly came over to the bed.

“Hey John, I’m so glad you are alright.”

“That’s a matter of opinion. I take it the damage was severe.”

Janna walked up.

“You could say that. The strange thing is that the med unit found mature ovaries and a uterus. Care to explain?”

I sighed.

“I was born intersexed. Swapping sexes several times has caused some problems. Before I went to Prowhiness, I was told of the development but I figured the trip through the gate had changed all that.”

“Well, apparently not. The med unit is part of the AI system and makes its own determinations based on the findings of its examination. The report given to me states that there were no male organs present while there were female ones. Basically, all the unit did was to heal your wounds including a vagina. So, congratulations, you are now a woman again.”

I sat back shocked. This was way more than before. Then I was pretending to be a woman; superficially only. Now, I really am female. I looked at Janna.

“Does this mean a fully functioning female?”

She looked puzzled.

“Of course.”

“Shit!”

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I decided to call George. He should know how things are going with the military. I used the code he had given me. He popped up on the vid.

“Hey Mary, I was wondering what you and Karen were up to. The word I get is that the military can find no sign of you.”

I laughed.

“Well, that was the plan. Karen is an expert at that.”

“Yeah, it sure has ruffled some feathers. With no ruins, a dead gate, and no one else to interview, the Planetopolis has given orders for a recall. The military is packing up now and should be completely gone sometime tomorrow.”

“What about you and Linda?”

“We’ve stayed on the marshal’s ship. I haven’t received any orders as yet.”

“Hmm, maybe I should talk to Sam. We have made contact with the aliens again.”

“No shit! I figured they were gone for good. What do they want?”

“There is a chance we might be able to use the gate to contact the future people. If we can, they might help us find Jonnie.”

“Wow, that is good news, I think. I just don’t trust those aliens. I know they helped me out but they talk out of the side of their mouths.”

I laughed.

“I agree but it is our only hope at this point.”

“OK but I don’t think it’s a good idea to call Sam. He may be monitored or feel that he must pass on the info about the aliens. I’ll talk to him about staying on here for a while.”

“That would be great! Call me when the military has left.”

“Sure thing. Be careful! Out”

His image disappeared. I turned to Karen.

“What do you think?”

She shrugged.

“What else? We wait.”

The next afternoon, George gave us the heads up that the coast was clear. Tinker and Bell already knew. No surprise there. We arranged to meet George and Linda at the gate site. Tinker seemed a little hesitant but finally agreed. Once on the ground, Karen and I rushed over to George’s shuttle.

“Boy it’s good to see you both.”

“The feeling’s mutual, George.”

“I guess Tinker is anxious to get at the gate. How will they activate it? I was told that it had no power.”

“Got me”

I looked out to see Tinker and Bell escorting some kind of wheeled contraption to the gate. Once there, they went inside.

“Well Karen, it looks like they aren’t wasting any time.”

“Yeah, I wonder if I’m supposed to operate the gate.”

“I don’t know since they are only trying to send a message.”

Tinker and Bell came out of the gate and walked over to George’s shuttle. We went out to meet them. Tinker looked at Karen.

“We have attached the power source to the gate that we used in our experimentation with it. The gate now has partial power. We would like you to try to send a pulse through it. Hopefully, the future race will recognize it.”

“OK, I guess.”

We went to the gate and Karen entered it. She called back out.

“It didn’t power up like before. What do you want me to do?”

Tinker looked a little down. I think they thought the gate might power up when Karen entered it.

“Place your right hand into the depression in the center of the command console. This might cause a signal to be sent.”

“OK”

A couple of minutes later, the gate suddenly powered up all the way and there was a bright flash. You guessed it, Karen was gone.